A Rational Zombie

Chapter 124

Yo. This is a smart infected and not a person? Are you pulling my leg?

The prey wasnt coming out from behind the door. Should I shoot its hand? But its much easier to move a hand to dodge an arrow than it is to move a whole body. Itll dodge, maybe take advantage of the time I have to spend readying another arrow to strike. Ill wait.

Its really an infected.

Bullshit. Hey! I know you can hear me. Why dont you drop the bow and we talk this out peacefully?

The last time a prey convinced me it wanted to be peaceful, it tried to impale my head with a spear. But I can play along, lower the bow, hope the prey exposes itself. Ill keep the arrow on the string.

See! Look at that. Its definitely a person.

Hey, hey! Careful! Its really an infected, you fucking moron!

The prey exposed itself. Its weapon was a metal stick. It seems like the other prey dont want to give it something more dangerous. The stick is dangerous, yes. But I already know it takes many hits for it to break a bone, even more hits for it to break a dome. But if the prey is close enough to use the stick, Im close enough to use a knife. And in an exchange of blows between the two, the knife wins. The knife can kill in one hit. The stick cant.

Alright. Lets

But since the prey was willing to get shot by an arrow, I wasnt going to decline. I raised the bow while pulling the string back, shooting the instant the bow was aimed high enough. The arrow hit the preys chest. There was a loud cracking sound. The prey took two steps back, lowered its head. It touched the arrow with its hand as if confirming it actually existed. It didnt look like it was in very deep. The prey grabbed it, pulled it out.

Shit. I, I think it broke something.

I readied another arrow since the prey didnt seem like it was going to do anything. It was standing there, watching blood stain its clothes, the wet spot growing larger and larger.

Didnt we warn you!? What the hell were you thinking!?

The prey didnt answer. It coughed. Liquid splattered against the inside of its visor. The coughs became more violent. The prey dropped to the ground, avoiding the next arrow I shot at it. The arrow flew over its head, sinking into the wall behind it. The prey was curled up on the ground, clutching its chest while coughing. M-my lung.

I readied another arrow, waited for the next prey. I didnt need to waste my arrows on a prey that couldnt fight. Even if it didnt die, as long as it wasnt able to kill me, its good enough. If I win, I can kill it later. Its meat will be fresher that way.

Fucking addicts, cant do anything right. Its your turn!

Another prey stumbled into view. But before I could fire, the prey disappeared from sight. The door partially closed as the prey hid behind it. It left the first prey curled up on the ground.

You want me to fight with only a bat? Give me a knife or a spear!

No can do, sorry.

Ill die!

Werent you so proud of being able to fight yesterday, kicking us while we were down? Werent you chanting blood for blood? Wheres that fucking bravado now, huh? Bastard. You better kill it if you want to live, or you can just die, piece of shit.

Hey, hey, lets not be so hostile right now. Remember the deal, if he kills it, we let him go.

These motherfuckers killed Kenny!

Alright, step outside. You need to cool off for a bit.

As I thought. The prey didnt want to give the new prey a proper weapon. If they did, what if it succeeded in killing me? What if it took my chokepoint, used it to fight the prey? Theyd be in the same situation. But I dont mind. Internal fighting between the prey is good. And the new prey, they arent crazy. They dont charge forward, uncaring about the injuries theyve received. Maybe their brains arent spicy.

Did you burn my baggie too?

We burned all your shit.

Really? You didnt cop some for yourself? How do you expect me to fight sober? If it really is an infected that fights like a person, how the hell am I supposed to win? Dont you know, in times of crisis, people can exert huge amounts of strength? There was that one lady in the news who lifted a car off her child! Humans are naturally capable of doing feats like that, but their brains suppress them because actions like those will cause lots of damage to their bodies. Infected dont care about damage to their bodies! An infected is way stronger than a normal person. Its only because theyre stupid and bite arms that we can hold them still to stab their heads to kill them!

Sure, theyre a little stronger than normal people, but we held them off just fine with shields yesterday, didnt we?

And look how many of you are left, fucking idiot!

What? Others are stronger than prey? Thats not true at all. Im weak. So pitifully weak. Moving a body is a hassle. Im not like Big Other, capable of lifting prey with one hand. I can barely shove others out of the way. But if what the prey is saying is true, doesnt that mean the others I was trying to shove are also strong? Could it be that Im naturally stronger than prey even as a weak other that cant compete against other others? Prey have tried to pin me down. They failed. Could the prey be right? If its true, it doesnt matter. This newfound knowledge doesnt affect me. The only thing I can do is continue what Ive already been doing.